"Lucas! Two goblins are flanking you from the right!"
A couple of days had passed since Axel awoke. In that time, they’d been raiding every southern camp they could find, amassing power before attempting another northern raid.
Axel roared with each swing:
"Die, you bastards! Die!"
[You have slain an Unseen, Goblin]
[You have slain a Nascent Aberrant, Goblin]
Unfortunately, the farther south they traveled, the more Unseen goblins they encountered — and they had discovered that Unseen goblins didn’t yield Aether Shards.
As he butchered the weak goblins, Axel bellowed:
"Screw you all! Burn in hell!"
[You have slain an Unseen, Goblin]
[You have slain an Unseen, Goblin]
With the last of them dead, Lucas laughed and cast Axel an amused glance.
"You certainly have passion. Do you have to say that every time you kill a goblin?"
Lucas was still the group’s leader, but after the tragedy, he had become the easiest person to blame. Only half of the survivors still trusted his leadership. The others were poised to betray him the moment one of his orders threatened their lives.
The twenty-five remaining Summoned had split into five groups to gather as many shards as possible, ravaging one camp after another.
The camp Axel and Lucas had just cleared was the final one in the south.
No matter how much farther they searched, they found nothing else. That meant the day of reckoning was creeping closer — the day they would raid another northern camp.
Before that, Lucas had another objective: find the castle. Tomorrow, a small scouting party of five would venture north.
***
Leora called out as the group departed:
"Good luck!"
Axel shouted back:
"Thanks!"
The five chosen for the scouting mission were Axel, Lucas, Zayn, Cory, and Ryon. While each was stronger than most of the remaining Summoned, they had been selected for their speed rather than their strength.
If the selection had been based purely on strength, it probably would have been Connor, Maks, Paul, Didier, and Axel — but it wasn’t.
The goal was once again to scout, not fight.
The cohort left the camp and headed north, following the dirt road beyond the northern gate.
They had always been wary of the road, fearing that a goblin patrol might follow it back to the camp. None ever had. Even so, the road likely led to another northern camp — or, better yet, the castle.
Still, they weren’t foolish enough to walk openly along it. They slipped through the forest beside the road, keeping at least one Obsidian Tree between themselves and the path.
Unfortunately, the colossal trees required enormous stretches of earth for their roots, leaving wide gaps throughout the forest. Whenever the group reached one, they circled broadly around the exposed area rather than risk being seen.
Then they saw something...
Axel and Ryon couldn’t hold their tongues at the sight.
"Holy..."
"...Mother of pearl!"
The dirt road pierced one of the fortress’s gates, as they had suspected. Beyond it stood a wall of black wood stretching nearly the length of a football pitch.
The fortress might very well have been the Goblin King’s castle. They needed to know for certain, and the only way to confirm it was to continue north and see whether anything lay beyond it.
The group marveled at the structure for a moment longer before sweeping in a wide arc around its walls until they reached the opposite side.
Spotting the road continuing north, Ryon muttered under his breath:
"Please, no..."
Knowing they had to discover where it led, the increasingly nervous group forged onward. They shadowed the road from the cover of the trees, skirting past the occasional goblin scout and murder of crows.
Then, once again... they found a massive wall of logs stretching what seemed to be the length of an entire football stadium.
Ryon hissed in a whisper:
"T-that has to be it!"
"Only one way to find out."
Again, the apprehensive group trudged around the seemingly endless fortress. What awaited them on the opposite side both mystified and terrified them.
As they rounded its walls, they spotted an enormous clearing in the distance — one unlike anything they had encountered within the Obsidian Forest.
A hopeful thought blossomed in each of their minds: perhaps they had finally reached the edge of the forest.
Of course, that ember of hope was immediately smothered when they spotted the road emerging from the other side of the fortress and extending into the clearing.
It didn’t take a genius to know what was most likely lurking within the vast expanse.
Each member of the cohort could hear their own heartbeat as they inched toward the clearing.
When they reached it, a beautiful hellscape unfurled before them.
As they feared, it was only a clearing, not the end of the forest.
And...
They had also found the castle. There could be no doubt this time.
Yet the castle was only one part of the scene before them.
Thousands upon thousands of knolls, each blanketed in countless flowers, filled the area.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.
It was also the first time any of them had gotten a clear view of the sky. Until now, it had always been veiled behind the canopy of enormous black leaves.
Above them stretched a crystal-clear expanse of azure radiance, untainted by light or air pollution.
If they had still been on Earth and had their phones, every single one of them would have made the view their wallpaper. Hell, they’d have staged an entire photoshoot, even if they normally hated having their pictures taken.
The only word any of them could use in attempt to describe it was "beautiful."
But "beautiful" didn’t come close to doing the scene justice. It was ineffable — something no collection of words could truly capture.
Even sight alone wasn’t enough. The fragrance wafting from the flowers and the gentle breeze gliding across the knolls were as much a part of its beauty as the view itself.
The only way to truly appreciate the place was to be there.
Then there was the castle itself, the edifice presiding over the verdant landscape.
Axel would have expected it to be constructed from the same obsidian wood as every camp they had encountered. Instead, it was fashioned from a strange yet alluring bluish stone.
It sat far across the clearing at the end of the road. A vast courtyard sprawled before it, enclosed by battlements that connected to watchtowers at either end.
Their view of the castle was partially obscured by the battlements, but they could see its upper front section. Carved across its surface was a mural depicting a muscular man with short, curly hair battling a colossal tentacled beast.
That single detail guided them to an obvious conclusion: mankind had built this castle.
The cohort could do nothing but stare in equal parts awe and paralyzing horror. Despite the beauty surrounding them, the sheer scale of the castle — and the fortresses leading to it — slowly eroded their spirits.
Since the tragedy that had claimed sixteen lives, the survivors had suffered only a few scratches.
It was a good sign.
Yet they had kept themselves in check, never allowing themselves to believe that anything would truly go their way. Whenever hope began to surge, they allowed just enough despair to seep in and temper their arrogance.
This, however...
They knew their situation was bad.
If the camp they had fought before had contained fifty goblins, it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that the castle looming before them housed over a thousand.
Worse still, a patrol marched from its gates. Every goblin carried a bronze or iron sword — far superior to the crude weapons available to the Summoned.
Lucas absorbed the scene for a couple of minutes longer before declaring:
"I’ve seen enough..."
With that statement, the cohort began the journey back to camp, their every step weighted with dismay.
None of them voiced their hopelessness, but each felt as though their lives had already been snuffed out by the sight they left behind.
The sun was sinking toward the horizon by the time they returned to the eastern camp.
Once there, Lucas declared that they had found the castle... but withheld its sheer scale — and the size of the fortresses protecting it.
At least for now.
They’d take it one step at a time instead of plunging straight into emotional ruin.
Their next step was harrowing, but obvious: the first fortress standing between them and the castle.
It had to fall.
Tomorrow, it had to fall...
It had to.